While the team over at Remedy are hard at work on Control, many Alan Wake fans are wondering just what the heck is going on with the sequel? It was on, then off, then back on again, and given that it looked like it was definitely “off” following a few interviews, it looks like there might be hope yet because Remedy has just regained their rights to the Alan Wake name.
Alan Wake was a truly unique title that as a writer myself, I couldn’t help but to fall in love with the eerie narrative surrounding an author and his new reality. A sequel was always in the works, but publishing rights halted any sort of real progress and that’s exactly why the news of them regaining those rights makes for really good news for fans of the first title.
Though they did have rights to the base IP itself, up until now Microsoft owned publisher rights which limited its release to Xbox and PC. While a sequel probably won’t happen anytime soon, it at least is a possibility still with an even higher chance than before.
Thomas Puha, director of communications, added on the topic of sequels regarding their upcoming title Control earlier this year saying, “We’ve got nothing against sequels, so definitely Control is something that we want to be working on in the future. But of course, the first game has to be as good as it can to even build that platform that we can make more, so that’s what we’re focused on.”
For those that are unfamiliar with Alan Wake, it was a critically acclaimed psychological thriller that came out back in 2010. “When the wife of the best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his search turns up pages from a thriller he doesn’t even remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, pushing Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save his love.” The story was thrilling but progression on a true sequel just couldn’t get up and running, which is a disappointment because the first title truly offered something special.
While we don’t have a sequel for that game coming out anytime soon, we do at least have Control to look forward to – a game that promises Remedy’s unique brand of narrative design. As for when their latest IP comes out, it’s poised to launch on August 27 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
